1999 Black Dodge Dakota face lift

[ThrillHo]

I've lurked here for a couple years, reading a ton and learning a lot. This was my fifth "serious" attempt at a full correction, and first attempt at localized wet sanding. Vehicle is my weekend warrior 1999 Dodge Dakota that spends 90% of it's life sitting in my neighbor's carport in order to make it look like someone lives there. I am actually the original owner. For the majority of the car's life, I didn't know jack about detailing. I was just like "hey, I'll clay and wax it twice a year, and that's all she needs." Now I know how very, very wrong I was. I'm only glad that the car has spent most of it's life in temperate california (although with a few years in Indiana during college).



Without further adieu, here we go. I started getting annoyed with the camera, so my shots became more infrequent during the process. I anticipated this happening, so I designated a "test panel" to make sure that I'd get shots of that. Plus a couple nasty localized oxidation and heavy scratches. You'll see..



Seems like most people do the obligatory product listing, so here goes:



Dawn wash

Meg's OTC Clay

Griot's RO w/ 5.5" BP

M105 on Yellow Ubers

M205 on Green Ubers

H2O w/ ISO for wipe downs

AA tire cleaner (not pictured)

AA wheel protectant (not pictured)

2000 grit wet sandpaper

Collinite 476S



So, car was massively MASSIVELY swirled, massively oxidized on the hood and top of the cab.. and just plain filthy. Again, this isn't my DD, and it rarely gets driven at that.



Dirty shot of test panel

Hood swirls, and scratches

Before and afters (Test Panel):



After claying

After M105

After M205 (pre 476S)

Hood before & Afters



Scratches wetsanded (first time ever wetsanding, was kind of disappointed in results)

Before

After (The scratches should be to the left of the frame, but they were heavily minimized after the sanding and compounding)

Random side-by-side of the tailgate after M105 (body hadn't been touched yet)

The Cab



Cab swirls

Closer up cab swirls and heavy oxidation

I sort of met my match when it came to the cab. It was so horribly oxidized that 2 passes of M105 only yielded this (wet sanding disc next time?)

All in all I'd grade myself about a B on the project. I've spent enough time here that I know it could have been better corrected. I'm going to keep honing my craft and next time I'm going to have a better go at it. I was in a little over my head here, and wanted to get the paint headed in a better direction. At any rate, constructive criticism would be appreciated.

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

Looks good!



As for those scratches you tried to wet sand out, it looks like they are simply too deep to be removed -- you might be better off putting some touch up paint in them and sanding to level the areas out afterward.

 

[AuAltima3.5]

The truck looks much better!



Detailing isn't always about perfection. Sometimes just a huge improvement is what you need. It isn't a show truck, but you are making it look very, very good. And much better than before.



Wetsanding: Don't be down about it. Alot of this is learning by trial and error. The general rule is if the scratch can be felt with your fingernail, it's too deep to remove. But you can improve it's appearance. How much is a variable, and that is something you gotta learn on your own. You could use touch up paint and sand, or just sand, or touch up and polish... it's all based on your experience. At least you are trying new things. FYI: I wouldn't fill and sand that area, since you already sanded it, unless you get a paint thickness gauge to really know. FYI II: try to keep your sanding marks in one direction. I see you overlapped two areas and they aren't parallel in direction of sanding. I think it makes it easier to remove them.



I'm guessing you are planning for a second round polishing on this thing?

 

[ThrillHo]

The truck looks much better!



Detailing isn't always about perfection. Sometimes just a huge improvement is what you need. It isn't a show truck, but you are making it look very, very good. And much better than before.



Wetsanding: Don't be down about it. Alot of this is learning by trial and error. The general rule is if the scratch can be felt with your fingernail, it's too deep to remove. But you can improve it's appearance. How much is a variable, and that is something you gotta learn on your own. You could use touch up paint and sand, or just sand, or touch up and polish... it's all based on your experience. At least you are trying new things. FYI: I wouldn't fill and sand that area, since you already sanded it, unless you get a paint thickness gauge to really know. FYI II: try to keep your sanding marks in one direction. I see you overlapped two areas and they aren't parallel in direction of sanding. I think it makes it easier to remove them.

Thanks for the hints. I guess my expectations for how much the wet sanding could remove were a little skewed. I did the fingernail test on the scratches on the hood, and 95% of them were hooking my nail. What do you think about the extreme oxidation on the cab? I thought that the M105 was going to be able to munch through that stuff.

And good eye on the sanding directions. You're right, I did switch directions on one of the areas. I won't do that next time. In regards to a scratch, does it matter if you go with the direction of the stratch, or if you go at a perpendicular angle to it?

I'm guessing you are planning for a second round polishing on this thing?

No immediate plans for a complete second round of polishing. But I do really want to hit the cab again and see what I can do.

 

[AuAltima3.5]

Thanks for the hints. I guess my expectations for how much the wet sanding could remove were a little skewed. I did the fingernail test on the scratches on the hood, and 95% of them were hooking my nail. What do you think about the extreme oxidation on the cab? I thought that the M105 was going to be able to munch through that stuff.

And good eye on the sanding directions. You're right, I did switch directions on one of the areas. I won't do that next time. In regards to a scratch, does it matter if you go with the direction of the stratch, or if you go at a perpendicular angle to it?







No immediate plans for a complete second round of polishing. But I do really want to hit the cab again and see what I can do.

I have limited oxidation experience, but when I was correcting that I had to clean/change pads after every 2-3 passes. Keep a bucket of water close to clean out pads so you can keep going. I don't have a fancy pad cleaner so I get lots of "dark water" sling. It may take a few passes per section to straighten out, especially with deep swirling. The cab seemed to have almost no residual oxidation in the last picture, and seemed to be more swirls. Maybe the bottom right of the cab after had some minor ox left. In any case, good job done thus far.



I like to sand perpendicular to the scratch, but it's what I prefer. My view is I am blending the scratch more effectively by knoocking down the 'edges.' Sanding requires some very extreme caution. I read recently to use a sharpie, and when the sharpie is gone you probably sanded as much as you 'should.' The theory is the high spot are now at the low spots in the clear, which was intended for orange peel removal but I think it's a great idea for repairs, too.

 

[Brad B]

Impressive job! I know how hard that was. Thumbs up.

 

[ThrillHo]

Thanks Brad, appreciate it. Your 2002tii is AMAZING!!